It's in the Bag

I was at the mall on Saturday with my boys killing a few hours. As we strolled through the main concourse, we came across a giant red shopping bag (it was probably 10 feet tall or so). The bag was promoting a new chick flick called “Confessions of a Shopaholic.”

The red shopping bag was part of a large promotion sponsored by Cotton, Inc. The Cotton brand is attempting to connect with women (in particular young girls) by associating with "Confessions," a hot new movie released on Friday.

According to an article I found on PromoMagazine.com, Cotton began dominating center courts and other high-traffic locals at 15 General Growth Properties across the country for three weeks prior to the launch of the movie which opened Feb. 13. The goal of the promotion,according to the article, is to educate young shoppers that products made of cotton are natural, breathable, comfortable, and yes, fashionable.

From what I was able to gather, people were asked to provide their personal "shopping confession" while being photographed by a Cotton rep. Everyone who gave a confession walked away with a shopping bag and gift certificates.

Even though I'm not in the target demographic, I found the promotion to be intriguing. It nailed all the things you want in a good promotion:

1. Highly target (There's no better place to reach woman than at the mall)
2. High traffic (Great location center stage at the mall)
3. Unique (The shopping bag was a clever idea)
4. Engaging (Consumers had to interact with the brand as part of the promo)
5. Free stuff (Who doesn't like a quality freebie)
6. Coupon or incentive (Everyone walked away with a coupon to "purchase now")

Congrats to Cotton on developing a highly targeted, effective promotion that was fun and engaging for consumers.